KANSAS CITY, Mo. — American missionaries accused of child trafficking in the aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake returned home Thursday and urged the safe release of the two women left behind in a Port-au-Prince jail.

Four of the eight freed Americans landed Thursday at Kansas City International Airport to cheers and hugs. They declined to speak to reporters, but their attorney, Caleb Stegall, read a statement in which they said they were thankful to be home.

“We hope and pray that our release will allow everyone to focus again on the dire conditions that remain in Haiti. People are still suffering and lack basic necessities,” the statement said, adding, “For those whose cases have not been resolved, we will continue to pray for their safe return.”

The group’s leader, Laura Silsby, and her former nanny, Charisa Coulter, remained in jail in Haiti. Both arrived at a Port-au-Prince courthouse Thursday to be questioned by a judge about their plans to set up an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.

But the judge rescheduled the appearance for today after an interpreter failed to show up.

“Everything is going well,” Silsby said. “I don’t know the exact day we are going to be free.”

Haitian Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said he did not release Silsby, 47, or Coulter, 24, both of Boise, Idaho, because the two had visited Haiti in December and planned even before the quake to open an orphanage.

The group was caught Jan. 29 trying to take 33 children out of Haiti without adoption certificates.

The judge didn’t dismiss child-trafficking charges against the eight Americans. But Stegall said he thinks the group’s ordeal is behind them.

“I’ve been in regular contact with our Haitian legal team,” he said. “They assure me that charges are or will soon be dismissed.”

One member of the group, Jim Allen of Amarillo, Texas, is scheduled to appear today on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Also Thursday, the United Nations said $1.4 billion is needed to provide food, water, shelter and sanitation to 3 million Haitians this year, the largest appeal following a natural disaster in the world body’s history.

The request includes the $577 million initially sought for the first six months after the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed about 230,000 people and left more than 1 million in need of emergency shelter. The United Nations has received $619 million so far from member nations.

The most urgent need is for latrines, tents and plastic sheeting to help homeless Haitians survive the coming rain and hurricane seasons, said Edmund Mulet, head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

“The rains are already arriving, and I don’t think we will have enough time to be able to protect all these people,” Mulet said.

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